Bittersweet Birthday
by Boo2020
Summary: Maya's 28th birthday feels bittersweet when she realizes she's finally older than Mia will ever be.


It was hard waking up earlier than Maya without her overhearing the alarm clock, but somehow Phoenix had managed it. He'd snuck out of the room he was currently sharing with her about an hour ago so he could make Maya breakfast in bed, and was on his way back to the bedroom.

He managed to toe open the door and peek in. It appeared that Maya was still asleep, until he took a step into the room. She seemed to hear him, and turned her head to look up at him with sleepy eyes. They widened slightly at the view of him with a tray piled high with her favourite breakfast items.

"Nick," she said, sitting up slowly to rest against the headboard. "What's that?"

"Breakfast in bed."

She wiped at her eyes tiredly. "What did I do to deserve this?"

He tilted his head at her. "It's your birthday today. Happy birthday, Maya."

She blinked. "Oh. You're right." She stared down at the food for a moment once he'd set the tray in her lap, then smiled. "Thank you. I almost forgot. This looks delicious."

He moved to crawl back into his side of the bed, taking one of the coffee cups from her tray and setting it on his nightstand after taking a sip. "Well, I missed your birthday last year. Since you decided to come home from Khura'in to visit this year, I wasn't going to miss it this time."

She smiled again. "You're so sweet."

"I try."

She nodded and picked up her fork and knife, beginning to cut the pancakes on her plate. He picked up his phone to browse while she ate, occasionally sipping at his coffee. It was a comfortable silence, and eventually he was engrossed in a news article online.

He didn't look up until he heard the soft clink of Maya setting her fork on her plate. He looked over at her, only to find her staring down at her food, a soft frown on her face.

"What's wrong? Is it not good?"

She shook her head, still staring down at her barely eaten pancakes. "No. It's great."

"Why aren't you eating it?" he inquired softly. Something was wrong when Maya didn't want to eat.

She swallowed, turning her face slightly to let her hair fall over her shoulder. It obscured her face from his view.

"I don't feel well," she said.

He set his phone on the nightstand and moved closer to her. "That's okay. You don't have to eat it if you're sick."

He leaned forward to take the tray from her, getting up to set it on the floor on his side of the bed before moving around to her side. It wasn't hard to notice how she turned her head opposite of wherever he went. She was trying to hide her face from him.

He reached a hand towards her. "Do you have a fever? Let me feel your forehead."

She shook her head. "No. I think I'm just going to go back to sleep."

"Maya," he said, "talk to me."

She couldn't seem to help looking up at him when she heard how gentle his voice sounded, and he wasn't all that surprised to see that she was crying. The moment she wouldn't face him he knew there was something else wrong.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Maya, what's really going on?"

She sniffed, leaning into him, her tears coming more freely now. "I wasn't looking forward to my birthday today, Nick. I was kind of hoping you'd forget about it."

"How come? 28 isn't a bad number. At least you're still _in_ your twenties. Once you hit 30, then you can be upset."

He was joking, but Maya didn't smile. Her frown only deepened. "That's not why…"

He squeezed her a little closer. "You can tell me, Maya."

She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I'm… I'm officially older than my Sis now." A fresh well of tears appeared in her eyes before slipping down her cheeks. "She died when she was 27."

"Oh, Maya," Phoenix said softly, pulling her in closer to his chest, "I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize." Mia meant a lot to him too, but Maya's birthday was nowhere near Mia's death date, so he hadn't even thought about the fact that Maya was finally going to be older than Mia had been when she passed. He was also much older than Mia now, but it wasn't the same. Maya was Mia's _little_ sister, and Mia had been the closest thing to a mother figure that Maya had once Misty disappeared. He had loved and admired Mia, but his love and admiration didn't compare. Mia was Maya's _big sister,_ and now Maya was the elder.

Maya shook her head, her fist bunching into the front of his shirt. "It's not your fault. You were just being sweet, like usual. I really do appreciate it, Nick. I'm sorry I don't have much of an appetite right now."

He shushed her, stroking a hand down her back. "You don't have to apologize. It's a totally valid reason to be upset."

"Really?"

"Of course."

She sniffed. "It's even worse because I can't stop thinking about what it'll be like if I have her channelled again. Will it feel weird? I'm older than her, so how can I be her little sister anymore…"

"Maya, you'll always be her little sister, no matter how old you get. I'm sure she would agree with me on that."

"How? When I'm old and wrinkly and grey, she'll still be young and beautiful."

He stroked her hair, thinking for a moment. "Think of it like this. Mia is _ageless_ now. She's… she's not 27 anymore. She has no age. She just… exists forever, in the spirit world. So no matter how old _you_ get _,_ or what you start to look like as _you_ age, you'll still be her younger sister. And when you pass away as a _really_ old lady, and you get to see her again, she'll still treat you like the kid you are to her."

Maya was quiet for a moment, her head resting against his shoulder while his hand stroked up and down her arm. Then she lifted her head from his shoulder to smile gratefully at him, though her tears hadn't completely dried up. "Thanks, Nick. That makes me feel a little better. I still miss her like crazy though."

He hugged her back to his chest. "Me too, Maya. All the time."

They sat together quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the closeness of the other person and the comfort they felt as they remembered Mia.

Maya finally sighed and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown as she sat up. Her face took on a look of resolve. "Okay. Mia wouldn't want me to be sad on my birthday. I'll have that food back now, Nick."

He smiled at her and got up, heading around to his side of the bed again to pick her tray up. He set it back on her lap and watched Maya start to dig in. He got back in his side of the bed, crawling close enough to wrap his arm around her again.

"Mia might not want you to be sad today," he said, "but we don't have to do anything extravagant either. How about we just spend a quiet day together?"

Maya nodded as she chewed a bite of pancake, turning to him to smile once she'd swallowed. "Yeah. That sounds nice, Nick."'

He leaned in to kiss her temple. "I'm gonna go make another pot of coffee, okay? They're a little cold now. You stay here and enjoy the food."

"Okay. And Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. You really did make me feel better."

He smiled. "That's what I'm here for, Maya."

"That, and to make me really good pancakes."

He laughed. "Yeah. That too."


End file.
